OVER recent weekends, swimmers of all ages from across Cambridgeshire competed at the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) County Championships.
Thomas Alderton, a Year 5 pupil at King’s Ely and one of the very youngest swimmers to qualify for the Championships, swam superbly to reach the final of the combined U10/11yrs 50m Breaststroke final. Probably more daunting than the swimming, was striding out to the starting blocks for the final in front of a packed Cambridge crowd, his cheering team-mates, all to the accompaniment of some pretty ‘funky beats’! Thomas was the only U10 to make the final, showing terrific potential and produced yet another fast time.
George Goodfellow, a Year 7 pupil at King’s Ely, also had a great championship, racing distances from 50m to 1,500m across all four strokes, achieving three gold, six silver and two bronze medals. All the training over the winter certainly paid off with George finishing second in the overall competition for 12 year olds. On the final and noisiest day, Thomas and George helped their team to fifth overall in some thrilling relay racing.
Both boys will be competing for the City of Ely later this month against local teams in the Fenland League. Any children who wish to develop their swimming, make new friends and have some fun are welcome to try out with the ‘Barracudas’- Ely’s Amateur Swimming Club, who help swimmers of all abilities reach their full potential.